It works.

You walk down several streets, down a staircase with a foot thick root as a railing, and turn left to see the Tower of the Sword.  Framing its open entry are two black talons that are twenty feet long.

You walk under them, and enter a large circular domed room.  Mosaics of fights between Shayans and others dressed in a gray uniform that varies a bit fight against odd beasts, demonic bipedal creatures. other creatures, and a fifty foot long dragon.  Another ring of statues is inside that ring, and many of these have varied forms of power armor on.  Some of the armor is clearly more advanced than others.

Some people are wandering around looking at the exhibits, and you see a small group of ten kids led by their teacher.

In the center of the room is a desk.  Behind it is a pleasant looking brunette/gilded young lady, and  a man in the latest version of the black armor.  Behind them is a spiral staircase that leads up and down.

I approach the lady and the man with a smile. "Greetings! I was told by Mistriss Acena that this is the place I would go to become a Shayan Marine and learn magic. How might I go about doing this?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 28):

The man steps forward as the lady steps aside.

"I am Sergeant Wills, and a Tech Mage in the Shayan Marines.  We are glad to have  you inquire."

He leads you around the desk to a smaller side desk with a chair.  And you get to answer a hundred questions on who you are, what experience you have, etc..

He glances at it after you're done, and drop it into a chute.  Then  he says...

"Mr. Scord, please follow me."  And he takes the spiral staircase down asking as he goes.  "The lobby and the upper tower are a museum.  Down below is the Induction Center.  Do  you have any questions for me?"

I follow Sergeant Wills and I ask, "I had heard that Courage, Obedience to Law, Preparation, and Love are the ethical standards of the Shayan Marines, and I think that these are generally very good principles. But there are certain circumstances when obedience to law can contradict love and courage if the laws that are given are unjust. What is the law that must be obeyed? Is it a law to be obeyed to the letter or to the spirit? That is to say, if a law says, 'Never harvest to the edges of your field' in a culture that allowed the poor to glean, if obeyed to the letter of the law where I came from it wouldn't help anyone but wild animals, but if obeyed to the spirit it is telling me to provide meaningful labor to the unemployed and food to the needy. I'm sorry, I can be a bit wordy at times. But what is meant by 'Obedience to the Law'?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Sun 26 Jan 2020.

In reply to Scord (msg # 30):

He nods.

"Excellent question.  We spend quite a bit of time teaching young officers Judgment.  Lower level soldiers are not required to show as much judgement, but you cannot rise to high levels in the officer ranks without it.  Or so we try."  He shakes his head.  "I could tell you a few stories about Colonel Hansel.  He was good at coming up with excuses to do dumb things.Finally, it was pointedly suggested he retire by a general, or we would find a way to get him out."

You enter the next floor below.  Around you are medical stations, some few in use.

"Here, if you decide to go in, you would have  your physical abilities checked."

There is a continuing staircase down.

I continue following Sergeant Wills and ask about the stairs that go down, "Where does this lead?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:19, Sat 01 Feb 2020.

In reply to Scord (msg # 32):

The next floor down is a circular firing range (with all targets on the exterior wall).  Energy weapons are being fired.

Sgt. Wills walks over to an empty booth, and checks in.  "Relax..." And he raises an arm and a bolt of fire streams from a popup gun on his shoulder.  Weird thing is you could feel it about to fire.

I ask, "Is is normal that I could feel when it was about to fire?"

Curiosity has gotten my mind pumping. My own prayers were far more directly effective here than where I came from, and there are forms of magic here as well. I begin wondering if there are unexplored magical possibilities. There is a particular kind of magic that I thought up for a story line, and I've always thought that in other universes, that magic might actually exist. In order to test this idea, I recall the sensation of floating one gets in dreams, and attempt to float by believing that I am doing so.

If that works, I stop because I figure it is better to learn from someone who is teaching magic than to try to make it happen on your own.

I say to Sergeant Wills, "I've never seen a gun like that before. Does it fire because you wanted it to without having to push any buttons or anything?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 34):

He gives you a brief smile.

"Its a good sign.  Most who can become Tech Mages can do it.  If you can't, well some still can become Tech Mages, but not as many."  He writes down a short note.

Sense Shayan Magic 1@1 Magic skill.

You feel something, but nothing happens.  The SGt. is staring at you.

"Yes.  I have been to the Hand of Dinis, and got fire magic that way.  Most of these others are just using laser and light plasma."  He turns back, and calls out 'Full fire.' Everyone else stops.  Then you feel a wave of power, and suddenly a bolt of flame reaches from his shoulder to the target, and shakes the room, heating the air ten degrees.

"What made you choose that particular path? And does everyone learn only one magic?"


"That felt impressive even before the bolt of flame! Does something like that tire you out?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 36):
"I led a group of Marines to stop raids coming from there.  And I've also gone to the Shayan catalyst.  And yes, its quite tiring."

"I assume each catalyst is associated with a different magic. I'm very excited to get started as a Marine. What do we do next?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 38):

He turns and studies you.  And you can see he is still tired and overheated from his very powerful plasma blast.

"This is a minimum two year committment.  But if you want, we can get started now.  And yes, there are eight different groups of magic.  Shaya was a goddess of Life and Light. Dinis was a god of fire."

If you want, he starts processing you in.  It takes several hours, and then you're lifted to Locan Base where you and a bunch of others learn how to run, march, shout, and shoot laser rifles.

Are you more interested in Scout, Heavy Weapons, or Regular Marine role?

Soon, you will be getting training in Treeclimbing and Defending of the Great Tree after which is being exposed to the Shayan Catalyst, and then a trip to space for zero go training followed by a final exam where your unit is in a wargame against more experienced troops.  Its said to be a metaphorical bloodbath at times.

At that point which is five months from now, you're a Shayan Marine.  If you got magic, you then get Tech Marine training.  If not, your first assignment.

Since I don't know when I'll see him again, I tell him the story of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus in short form, and I end it by praying that God "shine the light of His glory on Sergeant Wills" which means more than I understand, but at least means that God shows him whatever is needed to transform him into the kind of humble person who loves God, everyone, and all of creation. My expectation is that this not necessarily happen right away, but probably over time. I ask for his address so that I can correspond with him as well.


"I am excited to begin!"

I am more interested in the Scout role.


Before going to the Catalyst, I pray that God prepare me to receive whatever blessings He wants me to receive from the process, without any particular expectations (though if Life is the ability to make things grow, I know I'd like that).

While with the other trainees, I continue my regimen of daily prayer, praise and study of the Bible as much as I can, talking about God whenever appropriate. I also seek out a copy of a Bible from this world.

EDIT: I'd also correspond with Sgt. Wills and Mistress Acena about once a month.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:41, Sun 09 Feb 2020.

In reply to Scord (msg # 40):

Sgt. Wills listens for a bit, and then snaps.

"Look, I get you're an Old Believer, but you can't be bugging people about that all the time." He sighs.  He calms down a bit.  "Lets get you started."

OOC: Yes, that was a botch.

You're able to find a Bible.  It does have two books in it that you are not familiar with.


OOC: Your PM shows modifications to your char sheet from boot camp.

Your Scout training gains  you Stealth 1@7

As you walk into the Catalyst the sense of light and overwhelming power is shocking.  Then the light is all around you, and you feel a Great Mind that is sleeping.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:26, Tue 11 Feb 2020.

Having just come from a reading of the Transfiguration of Christ as depicted in the Bible from this world, I feel affinity and little-brother-ly love for a guardian of life and light, so I gently whisper toward the Great Mind, "Greetings, Shaya. Your tree cares for many souls, and they patiently wait, hoping as they love you that you will rise again."I pray to Yahweh as I continue to whisper to the Great Mind,"May you rest well as you rest, and rise well when the time is right."

My intention in the prayer is to communicate love and peace to the Great Mind, and add a passive blessing toward Shaya rising at the right time.

In reply to Scord (msg # 42):

You think your prayer may be answered, but as you advance down the tunnel, the power is so overwhelming that your senses, both physical and spiritual are blinded.  And you feel information and understanding pour into you.

Seeing the galaxy from the viewpoint of a goddess who can step from star to star, who can look and see a man on a different planet in another star system.


Its intoxicating, and you feel as if you could fall into this forever.  But you remember your training.

"You have to get close enough to be burnt, but get too close, and you will not come back.  The power and wisdom and knowledge of a goddess is incredibly seductive." Your teacher, an older Shayan Marine sergeant with gray hair looks out at the crowd of a hundred listening to him.  "Stats from pass classes show that anywhere from two to five of you will succumb.  What that means, we don't really know."

Back when I heard this, I had prayed for guidance as to whether I should willingly succumb, or resist. But if I wasn't directly told to willingly succumb, I will resist.

You advance forward, blinded, surrounded by power, images flashing through your brain, of things and thoughts too vast for you to catch more than a glimpse.  And most are gone before you even begin to recognize them.  But you find a deeper understanding of photons and stars and are able to cling to that.

And then  you realize  your brain feels....burnt.  Its like you are a piece of bread, and  you're start to turn brown at the edges.

But so many glorious things are ahead, even now here, you can see wonders just out of reach.  And if you go on, t here are t hings that will make your current understanding as nothing.  You know this in your bones.

With all of my effort, remembering my God who withstood temptations in the dessert and in the garden, I return without seeking deeper knowledge or power for now.

In reply to Scord (msg # 46):

Chances are, you survive, you hope.  Only two or three out of a hundred fail, but will that be you?

You struggle greatly, and pull back, and walk back into the light of an ordinary day.  but you can see Light paths in the air, inside you can feel Light magic.

A smiling drill instructor meets you.

"Well, done, Tech Mage Scord, well done indeed.  You now have magic."

"Thank you drill instructor! I'm excited to begin Tech Marine training. I can see the paths of light in the air and feel light magic inside me. What can I expect to be able to do with this?"

Out of curiosity, I try to manipulate the paths of light in the air to refract some of the incoming sunlight into a rainbow pattern on the wall or floor.

"Whoa." He reaches out a hand, and you feel the magic stop obeying you.  "You are not a full fledged Mage, and even they need to follow the rules."  He explains that you will learn your skills in classes over the next days.

The next day, out of the hundred you had, you now have a class of fourteen Light based Tech mages.

"As Tech mages, you are the core of the Shayan marines.  You can hit harder, take more damage, communicate, and wear armor unlike True mages."

He pulls out a round disc of rune engraved amber encircles with power outlets in gray and black metal.

"You've seen the full body armor of a Tech Mage.  This is what powers it.  But what powers this?"

I think back on what I've heard about True mages over the last 2 years.

I look at the disk with my light-path sense, looking for energy flowing into or out of the disk. If no one ventures an answer, I raise my hand.

In reply to Scord (msg # 50):

Tech Mages.  True mages are somewhat considered a step above sort of and also off to the side, however they don't wear power armor like you will.

The DI nods at you.

"Tech Mage Scord, lets here your thoughts."  By now the instructors are a lot more gentle than they originally were.